


Guilt and Remorse

by chaoslewder



Category: Granblue Fantasy (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, No Smut, chaotic evil meets chaotic good, just kind of nasty, kind of one-sided though i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-05-08 04:13:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14686230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaoslewder/pseuds/chaoslewder
Summary: Will develops a crush, and his crush absolutely hates him for it.





	Guilt and Remorse

**Author's Note:**

> This story will make more sense if you have read Blazing Teacher Elmott and SR Will’s fate episodes. I'm not actually the first to write this pairing, some folks on pixiv were, so kudos to them for exposing me to this rarepair in the first place. Also, I rarely write anything remotely romantic so, sorry in advance if it all sounds more like a crackfic than a slashfic...

  
“You goddamn piece of shit!” Elmott roared in his face, while hoisting him up by the collar and shoving him hard against the nearest wall.

Will found himself surprised that he couldn’t break free. He was actually a swordsman, after all. For someone who supposedly just waved around a staff and cast magic from the sidelines, Elmott was awfully strong. Then he remembered that the erune had fought and beaten entire gangs of hoodlums completely alone, on top of knocking draphs out cold with his fists, if Grea’s recollections of the rumors she’d heard at her school were true. Now, Will could certainly believe them.

“Are you trying to get the brats on this ship killed?”

Will had a feeling that Elmott wasn’t asking a question so much as loudly stating for everyone who was in earshot what he was trying to do. Even if it was wrong.

“I was going to, get rid of them, if they escaped—”

“I don’t care how much of a hard-on you have for monsters,” Elmott snarled, mercilessly cutting off his excuses and air supply with a tightening of his grip. “You’re not bringing any more on board.”

Again with the condemning statements. Will was starting to realize why all the children in the crew sought his attention while somehow also fearing him. Much like any good mother, he had the ability to render people unable to argue back when confronted with the blazing righteous fury he radiated from the core of his undeniably caring heart. He was an excellent protector of children. He nodded weakly, shamefully.

As he was then treated to the most baleful evil-eye Elmott could administer, Will realized that the shape of Elmott’s pupils were, well, not very human. Nor were the claws that he noticed were very, very close to puncturing his neck. Or the full set of razor-sharp fangs bared at his face. He could faintly recall Sen and Yuel having a cute little fang or two, but, this. This was most certainly not as cute.

And his ears were also. Big. Bigger than any other erunes’ ears he had seen, save for the two royals in their crew, and he highly doubted that Elmott was part of their family. They were rigidly flat and pointing backwards, in perfect likeness of a canine, or perhaps feline, in the absolute worst of moods.

A bundle of anomalies and inhuman traits. Much like…

His heartbeat continued to race, but for different reasons than being pinned to a wall and facing possible imminent death by fire.

He found his fear starting to give away to fascination.

Normally, Will would have a lot more words and a lot more eloquence to speak with on the cause of the fascination that was dawning on him, but he lacked the air to say much, never mind even use any of his limited time left to attempt to defuse the situation.

“Y-you’re beautiful.” Will spluttered. The iron-like grip on his collar tightened even further for a second. He felt his dizziness spike a level higher, and his vision blurred.

And in the next moment, he could breathe properly again. Massaging his throat with one hand, he slowly looked up from his position on the floor, sprawled out and flattening his fallen hat with his behind.

Elmott stared down at him with an expression that was still angry, but now perhaps half-and-half. His fiercely knitted brows were starting to arch up with bewilderment.

“I can guess why you said that,” the redhead finally said after a pregnant pause. “And let me tell you, it makes me hate you even more. Put any of the brats in danger in any way ever again, and I’ll burn you. Horribly. Got that?”

Will could only nod and wheeze out a somewhat audible _got it_ in response, but that seemed to quell Elmott’s fury enough to allow him to lay on the deck without experiencing any further harm. The erune turned and stalked away while ordering the young captain and his blue-haired soulmate to come downstairs for lunch. Gran shot Will a worried and somewhat apologetic look as he passed, but didn’t do much else, just dutifully followed behind an ecstatic Lyria as she sang about roast chicken and sponge cake.

Will couldn’t blame the kids. No one missed a meal when it was cooked by him.

\---

It was a night like any other after a job that landed the crew in some random town overnight, in which most of the of-legal-drinking-age members of the crew would wander into the local pubs. Will was pleased to eventually find Elmott seated alone at the edge of a bar. The erune’s blazing red hair and long pointy ears of matching color made him hard to not miss, despite him probably wishing he wasn't.

Judging by the way he looked at most people when they talked to him, Will had a feeling that Elmott did not like people. However, he also noticed that Elmott tended to soften his expression when faced with children as well as a certain healer, most likely the erune’s only close friend in the crew.

“You’re not with Shao today.” Will said as he seated himself directly next to Elmott.

Elmott sighed and rolled his eyes at the ceiling instead of turning to acknowledge Will’s presence.

“I sure wish I was, for once.”

“What’s he up to?”

“Stitching Krugne back together after he got too close to the Wind Rabbits. With a reason like that, I was pretty surprised it was him and not you in the clinic. Would’ve been nice.”

“Why do you hate me so much?” Maybe he should just be blunt, like him, and it would do him some good...

Elmott finally turned to look at him, and the look on his face was not good.

“Are you an idiot?”

“I am really sorry about that thing with the monsters. Can’t we just start over and be nice to each other like reasonable adults?”

Elmott snorted at this, and downed the rest of his drink. After motioning at the bartender, who nodded at him and set about mixing another drink, the erune rested his chin on his hand with a tired look on his face. One of the only two moods he ever seemed to express, Will realized, after anger.

“I also hate it when people flirt with me, just so you know.”

“I won’t,” Will said hurriedly. “I just want to know you a little better. Like everyone else in the crew.”

Confusion strayed into Elmott’s tired-angry face.

“What do you mean, like everyone?”

“It’s normal to just want to get to know everyone in your crew.”

“‘That so?” Elmott muttered. “I could get by perfectly fine without doing that.”

“The kids really like you, though.” Will thought about how he’d once seen Elmott and Yaia cooking fried rice together while passing by the kitchen and how it had made him kind of squee a little bit on the inside, but he decided not to mention it. The conversation was going so well, with him still being alive and all.

Elmott looked more and more wary as they sat together and time ticked by, which Will took as a good sign. Maybe, before the night was over, he could just ask one tiny little question about his enchanting appearance.

“Please don’t take this as an insult, because it’s not, but, are you really an erune? Like, full-blooded?”

Elmott stared at him in silence for a solid five seconds, before slapping the counter with one hand as he bent over laughing his lungs out.

“Well,” Elmott said after he sat up straighter (not straight, just back to his usual slouch) in his seat. “That’s one way of saying it.”

“Saying what?”

“Saying that I’m a monster.”

“I’m not saying that you’re a monster.”

“Then why are you all over me like this?” Elmott was looking at him with nothing but contempt, and it drove out almost all of the butterfly-feelings in his stomach and frustrated him. Why did Elmott hate him so much? Life wasn’t fair.

“...Er.”

Damn. He couldn’t think of a way to profess anything without proving Elmott’s point in some way. It was kind of hopeless when Elmott already knew what he was into.

“See, just admit it. You’re a sick fuck who’s into bestiality.” Elmott smiled nastily at him.

The butterflies were back, and with a sudden renewed force that left him unable to speak.

“Though I guess it’s not like anybody here doesn’t know already and chooses to ignore it because Gran’s already ignoring it too,” the erune continued. “That wouldn’t really help my case in getting you thrown out of the crew. Or my other possible case in murdering you and managing to not get myself thrown out of the crew.”

It really wasn’t fair that his crush hated him so much and that he got so breathless from hearing him talk about how much he hated him in that stupid sexy low voice of his.

“Are you _enjoying_ this?” Elmott stared at him closely with those piercing golden eyes of his, which really didn’t help stop his face from turning light-pink to bright-red. Will wished he would stop and go back to staring at the ceiling like before, but he also didn’t. He could get lost in those wild, inhuman eyes.

“Huh. I guess I should keep going then, ‘cause I don’t really mind turning your balls blue and hopefully making them explode and kill you.” Primarch almighty, that smile was so venomous, Shao could bottle it up and add it to his collection with pride.

Will lasted maybe five minutes of listening to Elmott brainstorm all the different ways he could viciously maul him to death with his teeth and claws and nothing else, before sliding off his barstool and barrelling out of the tavern door, the redhead’s cruel laughter fading away into the night’s darkness as he ran back to the Grandcypher. Boy, he was going to get carpal tunnel at this rate, and his monster research writings would have little to do with it for once.

\---

“Shao.” Will paused, not for dramatic effect, but because he was hesitant to say something dramatic. But it needed to be said, because he had no idea how to start this conversation. So he might as well start with something ridiculous, go for a light-hearted mood. “Have you got a cure for love?”

“Love has no cure, as much as I’d like to say it does.” Shao sighed. “This is about you and...Elmott, isn’t it?”

Will nodded in response. He wasn’t surprised—Shao was perhaps one of the most observant people on the airship. Not a single symptom for sickness went unnoticed by him while the crew went about their daily lives under his watch, as he was the crew’s most experienced healer.

“What’s going on that’s making you regret developing feelings for him?” Shao said. His tone was perfectly even and comfortingly sympathetic, and Will thought that Shao would also make a great shrink.

“I...I think liking him has made him hate me even more.”

“Have you apologized to him about the stunt you pulled with the monsters?”

Will thought back.

“I did. Though, he never really asked for an apology, just threatened me to never do it again or he’d burn me.”

“And you said you wouldn’t?”

“Of course.”

At Will’s reply, Shao began to look more thoughtful.

“Have you actually confessed to him yet? I thought he’d be the type to respect other people's’ feelings better...”

Will pursed his lips and thought back harder.

“...I guess I kind of did, and he’s just been giving me shit for it ever since.”

Shao now looked concerned, and Will found himself getting worried too just by seeing the erune frowning instead of smiling amiably as he usually did.

“I’ll talk to him about this. Don’t worry. And since this presumably vague confession of yours resulted in a situation like this, maybe consider redoing it? Properly?”

“Thanks, Shao.”

“It’s nothing.” Shao found his smile again, and it was reassuring. “I know you’re actually a good person...deep down.”

“...Do I not show any goodness on the surface, then?”

“I suppose you could do better.”

\---

A couple days later, Shao sat down next to him during breakfast.

“I think I know the solution to your problem.”

Will set down the knife he was using to spread jam on his toast, and gave the healer his full attention.

“He thinks you only like him because he...well...looks a bit…”

“Like a monster?” Will supplied.

Shao glanced around the room warily, only leaning in and replying once he made sure his best friend was nowhere in sight.

“Elmott has not had a very happy childhood because of the way he looks.” Shao began in hushed tones. “He might not ever admit it, but it really hurts him when people judge him based on appearances. He doesn’t think highly of his own looks.”

“But he should. He’s not bad-looking in a conventional sense.”

“It’s good that you think that as well,” Shao said with visible relief. “In fact, you should tell him that, not me.”

“Ohhh. So basically, hide the fact that I actually do like how he looks like a wild animal, and just say that I like other things, like his personality?”

“...If you must be honest, try to say it all in a way that might make him feel flattered.”

“I’ll try.”

After Shao ate his breakfast and left him to go do healer things, Will sat and pondered. He thought about how he actually did like Elmott’s personality, because he was good at holding back and not murdering people he hated, unlike him. He was also good with kids and good at cooking. Three things that weren’t about Elmott’s appearance was good enough, wasn’t it? Maybe he could get away with also saying that he had nice legs.

\---

“Did Shao put you up to this?”

Elmott scowled at Will, looking more tired and angry than usual. The lantern he often held in his hands was starting to shake and sway slightly. Like anyone else in the crew who had seen him fight, Will knew that Elmott had more than one use for his lantern. Much like Teena, he wasn’t above swinging it like a deadly flaming club at any monster that got too close. The ever-burning flame inside pulsed and glowed like a living light. It made Will nervous, but he stood his ground bravely.

“Tsk. That bastard is meddling in my shit as usual.” From the way Elmott talked about him, one would never guess that he and Shao were actually good friends. Will felt a bit jealous.

Even if the erune would never reciprocate any of his feelings, at least being able to hold a civil conversation with him once in a while would be nice.

Elmott was interesting. Most people bored Will, because they were just people. Will’s lifelong goal to have monsters tolerate people might never be reached while he was alive, but if he could have Elmott tolerate him, that was close enough…

Will mentally slapped himself. No, no, no. His goal right now was to let Elmott know that he thought of him as an interesting person, not like an interesting monster, not in any way.

“It’s all true,” he said, and it really kind of was. Perhaps because of that, Elmott’s suspicious frown seemed to soften by a fraction as Will spoke. “I have always thought that you were a nice person. And, uh, realizing how pretty you were just kind of sealed the deal for me.”

The fire in Elmott’s lantern flared suddenly, hard enough to make it rattle and spit out a flurry of glowing embers.

“P-pretty?”

“Oh yes. Your, um, long red hair is just so pretty. And your nice long legs. And—”

Shao’s face flashed in Will’s mind briefly like an afterimage, just like those ridiculous flashbacks in the soaps Korwa watched. Shao’s face mouthed the words, ‘properly’.

“—will you go out with me?”

After an unbearably awkward silence, more of that laughter he often heard in his dreams (the wet kind) rang through the crisp morning air, but it was far less mocking this time.

“Hell no. Whatever Shao told you, he was wrong, alright?” Elmott grinned at him. “I just hate you because I hate you.”

“That makes no sense.” Will said faintly. Somehow, he felt rather relieved.

“Shao said I might’ve misunderstood you.” Something that Will hadn’t seen on the erune’s face before was starting to appear. Could it possibly be guilt? “So...since I don't appreciate it when people misunderstand me, I’m giving you a chance.”

“A chance to what? Didn't you just reject me?”

“Not that, you idiot, I’m just giving you a chance to make me stop hating you.”

“Is that an invitation for me to keep talking to you?”

Elmott’s cheeks were starting to turn the same pretty shade as his hair, and Will sent a quick mental prayer to the gods to thank them for letting him live long enough to witness not one, but _two_ totally new expressions on his beloved's face this fateful day.

“Don’t ask me things you already know. Idiot!”

The more he said that word, the more it seemed to betray his embarrassment. How very interesting.

It seemed that Will was going to have to put his monster research on hold for some research on...something even better.

**Author's Note:**

> Tfw you can't think of a title so you just use a skill name...also, I headcanon that everyone on the ship goes to Shao's clinic room for love advice and he hates it.


End file.
